Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball has not been the same player this season, and head coach Luke Walton could be the reason why.
On Sunday afternoon, the Los Angeles Lakers replayed the exact same listless “Lake Show Broadway” play from last week in Orlando against the Magic.
You know the script. The Lakers come out and slap the Magic around early, only to give way in the second and third quarters on the defensive end and let the same Magic players, being Nikola Vucevic and D.J. Augustin, lead the way in dismantling the back line. Los Angeles then makes a comeback in the 4th quarter and loses.
In the last game, LeBron James sat the whole 4th quarter with Lonzo Ball while the bench made a push. This time, LeBron was on the floor and well…Lonzo was on the bench again!
Only this time, Ball’s benching of the ENTIRE 4th quarter had the Los Angeles Lakers fans asking a lot of questions! The topic of conversation on social media was…Where is Lonzo Ball and more importantly why?
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1066830333939597312
The Lakers blew a 12-point lead to the Orlando Magic and lost 108-104 in a game that the Lakers really could have used for momentum leading into Tuesday night’s game on the road against the Denver Nuggets. But, this issue with Lonzo Ball’s minutes going forward is going to be an issue for a couple of days!
This explanation is not going to get it in my opinion…
This is not the first time this season that Luke Walton had to make this kind of statement to justify (also read an excuse) the decision to put Ball back in a game where it might have been appropriate for the Lakers.
The other time? That was the Atlanta game when Josh Hart finished the game. Not only that, it was clear throughout the game that the rotation patterns were starting to revert back to the fluid (to be kind here) decisions that led the team to a 2-5 start.
It was laid out a couple of weeks ago in this piece when Luke Walton’s performance was under the scrutiny of Magic Johnson…
Los Angeles Lakers: 3 reasons Luke Walton is in trouble
Ronald Agers writes his first article about Los Angeles Lakers rumors. Luke Walton is rumored to be in trouble after a slow start. What got him in trouble?
If you want to go straight to the second reason to read about the rotation patterns, feel free. But Lonzo Ball has improved in the last couple of games, even helping the Lakers overcome a Cleveland scare on Wednesday.
The Lakers asked Lonzo to be more aggressive, he got more aggressive. Lonzo was asked to look for his shot, he looked for his shot.
What is the problem?
I think it’s his coach! Check out why!